This invention relates to searching for and acquiring media content that is of interest to a user.
The Internet, as embodied in HTML pages and other content that can be delivered in standardized web browsers, has evolved to provide a wealth of information about different topics and access to companies that deliver products and services. Internet users can identify specific content that is interesting to the user, such as media, by using Internet search engines. Media can be any creative work, including without limitation: music, movies, television shows, radio broadcasts, books, magazines, web pages, paintings, drawings and live performances (or recording thereof, in any form). Some companies provide browser-resident forms to allow Internet users to purchase or license content directly. Other companies deliver products, typically software or media content in a digital form to a requesting computer on demand or otherwise make products available to the purchaser/licenser.
Another way of providing users with access to media content and products of interest does not use a personal computer display and keyboard to access the products and content. Instead, a simplified control system finds and accesses content in the context of a media presentation system, e.g., a television, and provides a searching and previewing method that is specific to such system.
Conventional digital media server products from TiVo, Mediabolic, and others provide access to multiple media types (e.g., television programs, broadcast movies, recorded music, and digital photographs), along with the ability to search available media, then access and deliver selected media. Some of these digital media servers can search future offerings of a particular media supplier (e.g., a particular cable system operator).